AzerTelecom and Kazakhtelecom enter active phase of Trans-Caspian project

AzerTelecom and Kazakhtelecom, the incumbent telcos of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, have signed a cooperation agreement on the Trans-Caspian project.

The agreement provides a framework for the strategic partnership between the two, defining the main terms of cooperation under the previously signed memorandum, Capacity Media reported on March 6.

The project will see the laying of a fibre-optic communication line (FOCL) along the bottom of the Caspian Sea on the Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan route and forms part of the wider Digital Silk Way project, which aims to create a digital telecoms corridor between Europe and Asia.

“The implementation of this project is very important for both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. For Kazakhstan and Asian countries this is a new alternative route, as well as an improvement of the network connectivity and reliability, while for Azerbaijan it means a transformation into a regional digital hub," said Sergey Nazarenko, chief operations officer at AzerTelecom.

"The historic Silk Way is being digitally reborn, and this route will allow transmission of hundreds of terabytes of information. This will accelerate the development of data storage and processing infrastructure along the entire route. The transmission of data flows from Asia to Europe through Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan will create new opportunities for the development of digital business in the region.”

A high-level design for the project has already been developed, along with a detailed roadmap which has been approved and after the feasibility study, the construction of optics along the bottom of the Caspian Sea will be implemented.

The main route of the submarine cable will run from Aktau in Kazakhstan to Siyazan in Azerbaijan spanning more than 340km. A reserve channel, approximately 330km in length, will be laid from the Kazakh port of Kuryk to Buzovna, near Baku.

“The FOCL laying project is very important for Kazakhstan. With its implementation, we will get additional access to international traffic and a new channel, which will ensure the transit of the global traffic flow from Asian countries through Kazakhstan and via a submarine cable to Azerbaijan with further access to Europe through Georgia, the Black Sea, and Bulgaria," added Almat Karamanov, chief commercial officer - B2B at Kazakhtelecom JSC.

"In addition, within this project, we will be able to simultaneously create other large infrastructure projects, such as a superhighway or, for example, the construction of new Data Centers. As a result of the development of such projects, Kazakhstan will become interesting and promising for major international players.”

The operators intend to complete the project by the end of 2024.

Kazakhstan plans to build a high-speed digital information network, with two branches stretching from China to Azerbaijan and Russia. During construction, the old fibre-optic communication lines on the China-Russia route will be reduced by 650 kilometres to 3,000 kilometres, and on the China-Azerbaijan route by 700 kilometres (to 2,800 kilometres).

Network latency is expected to be reduced by a factor of 1.5, from 19 milliseconds to 13 milliseconds. In addition, input-output traffic nodes will be eliminated, a new Dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) design will be introduced and new optical fibre will be used.